This week we chat to Tony Forlong breeder of I’m Thunderstruck (Shocking – Primadonna Girl) who came 2nd in the Cox Plate over the weekend.
How many mares do you breed from? Six at present
What else do you have in your bloodstock portfolio (youngstock, racehorses etc) We have got a horse down with Robbie Patterson, by Contributor out of our Shammie mare, and a filly out of our Tavistock mare La Quinta by Burgundy, who we’re bringing on slowly as well. Also have three more going to yearling sales, an Ocean Park out of Primadonna girl, a Mongolian Khan - Eden Valley and one more out of our Tavistock mare.
We got a nice foal this year by Shamexpress –out of our Ocean Park mare. We are waiting for a further three coming in next few weeks, the foals that are due are by Vadamos, Ocean Park and Priosir. We were a bit late getting the mares in foal last year, so we’re still waiting on a few. Hoping they’ll be nice types and we’ll hopefully end up with four for the sales next year.
Do you make your own mating decisions or seek advice from others – if others, who? We have Don Mckinnon working for us, he’s been in horse industry since he was a youngster, he runs our equine operation for us and we rely on him a bit for advice for breeding. Of course, it’s ultimately our decision, but it’s a group effort to work through the options. We also have other mares on the property that belong to clients and Don helps with those and advises them as well, it’s really good having someone around with such a lot of experience. We have also surrounded ourselves with good people. We use Eion Kemp for our breaking in, and we’ve got a good reproductive vet we are in a very good place in terms of people we use around us to support and advise when we need it.
One of the things about I’m Thunderstruck that was never really covered off was that Eion Kemp initially broke him in, he was was a tough horse to break in, he didn’t really get the credit he should in respect to that, he did a fantastic job in respect of getting him to that position where he could go on and be successful as a racehorse.
Do you have a favourite cross? Not really any favourites, obviously Primadonna Girl is our lead mare at the moment which means we want to put her to something good, we may look at taking her to Australia to serve, maybe to move outside the NZ sires. However, the good thing about her is she’s got nothing in her background that precludes us from breeding her with any stallion in New Zealand, if you look at her pedigree page – it’s looking pretty good on the back of I’m Thunderstruck and her first foal Cantstopthefeeling got black type as well. She’s by Edenwold and has quite a lot of Northern Dancer/Mr Prospector in her pedigree, every time you run a nicks cross on her everything comes up 20/20 which makes life interesting when you’re trying to decide where to send her. I think the only one she hasn’t come up 20/20 is Savabeel which is interesting.
Its’ been a real ride for us, we’ve really enjoyed the times we’ve had. We were actually over for the Cox Plate and hosted by OTI who bought the horse off us along with Mick Price and that was a real thrill just to see that. When we first started breeding we said “wow, the dream would be to have something running in a black type race” it’s been a great ride so far.
Proven stallion or new season sire? Depends on mare really. With Primadonna Girl, now she’s had success she really needs to go to a proven stakes winning stallion, because she has a limited number of foals that she’s going to have, and at the end of the day we need to do that, having said that we’re always open to any situation in respect to where to send her next, we have been very impressed with the results from Proisir and Vadamos at Rich Hill or Shocking as well who’s had a few good winners as well. We’ve been doing quite a lot of breeding through Rich Hill and that’s gone quite well for us.
Best breeding advice you have received? One of the funniest ones I’ve been told with mares is an empty uterus is a wasted uterus and along with that came they’re a long time dead! This advice came about I think as we were initially just breeding Primadonna Girl every second year, and with the success of this one, we really are having to consider having her in foal every year. We had planned on her being empty last year, but she had a really good foaling and we thought we’d give her a go with Ocean Park on her foal heat last year and she got pregnant straight away which was great. However, her due date is mid-November so we might leave her for this season and then put her back in foal earlier next season, we would like to get her right back to the beginning of the breeding season next year though.
Who do you admire in the thoroughbred breeding industry? I have really admired – Brent and Cherry Taylor, we’ve had some great dealings with them over the years they’ve had some good form, and they have given us some advice has been helpful over years. A lot of credit of what we’ve been doing should be placed with Don McKinnon as well, his dad was a trainer, he was riding trackwork before he was 10, his contacts and knowledge has been helpful for us starting out.
If you could own any broodmare (past or present), who would it be? So many good ones – it depends on how much money you’ve got! I wouldn’t say no to a Verry Ellegant on my farm, but I think she’s out of my price range. There have been some great racing mares that have gone through over the last few years, some great ones that are coming to the end of their careers racing now, with some really nice black type on them. I think the New Zealand breeding industry is in a good place, the only thing that lets it down for everyone in New Zealand is the lack of stakes in racing, it’s just not enough. I was having conversation with one of the co-owners while we were at the Cox Plate, who commented that I must be pleased with the stakes races he’s won, (I’m Thunderstruck) but I said “yes, but if I’d kept him and raced him in New Zealand I’d be lucky if he’d won $200k, that’s a real problem as it stops the smaller guys to be able to put money back in the industry which is what’s really needed for reinvestment. There’s work being done by Auckland Racing Club to increase stakes that’s crucial for the industry, the stakes have got to come up, you really can’t afford to race a horse in New Zealand on stakes being offered.
As an example, we’ve got the Vodafone Derby which is the only $1m race I think, when you compare to Australia where I’m Thunderstruck has run in five $4m races and the Cox Plate which is worth over $4m over the space of ten weeks, you just can’t compete for that sort of prize money here. For us it’s more of a labour of love more than anything else unless you get an I’m Thunderstruck that comes through that puts you on the map as a breeder, you’re up against the eight ball in terms of selling and everything that goes with that. Just getting into Book One at Karaka is tricky to do, the big studs tend to get there, the smaller breeders come along and might get one or two in there, and that’s important in the industry. That’s really the only thing that’s causing any problems for me, we’ve got some good progeny and some promising young stallions coming through, there’s a good commitment to breeding in New Zealand, it needs to fill out a bit to help the smaller guys, who maybe have 4-5 mares in their band and are wanting to grow or reinvest.
The bigger studs, have such power in terms of their breeding opportunities and their broodmare bands are just magnificent so they are doing much better of course. We’ve been very lucky with Primadonna Girl and what she’s done for us, I wouldn’t say it’s a fluke, as she’s a very good horse, and when she was picked for us, it was commented that she was the straightest horse seen for some time. We were just lucky to get her, as she got injured after a fall from a truck which meant she couldn’t continue to race. We put her in foal to Swiss Ace and got Cantstopthefeeling who went to Hong Kong, and now of course I’m Thunderstruck, with her third foal selling to Australia so that’s been great for us.
Biggest issue I have is when I breed one, my wife tries to sell it, as I enjoy the racing side of things much more, I’m hoping eventually to get one I can race.
If you could spend a day learning the tricks of the trade on any farm in the world which would it be? Couldn’t go past Trelawney, Waikato, Cambridge they are the leaders in New Zealand, more Trelawney for me, as they don’t stand stallions so that’s closer to what we’re doing but would just soak up everything I could from any of those farms.
Finish this sentence: The best part of being a Thoroughbred breeder is … enjoying your successes, enjoy yourself and the horses you’ve breed. That’s why we do it, it’s not easy work especially on a small stud, as you’re don’t tend have a lot of staff so you are working hard at times, feeding horses and caring for them. Always celebrate successes as you don’t know when the next one is coming your way.
